European Stocks In Retreat Over Spain's Bankia |
| Wall Street Journal - May 17, 2012 |
European equity benchmarks kept up a losing streak on Thursday as shares of Bankia SA tumbled on reports of customers pulling money out of the Spanish bank.
Speculation that Moody's Investors Service could downgrade the Spanish banking sector also darkened investor sentiment.
With worries about Greece also continuing to overshadow the market, the Stoxx Europe 600 index extended losses to a fourth day, dropping 1.1% to 241.63. The euro hovered around $1.27, reflecting anxiety in the foreign-exchange market about prospects for the shared currency.
"The market is oversold on a fundamental basis and short-covering bounces may push it higher, but we need a solution to the problems we are facing for the market to stabilize and if we don't hear anything quickly, the consequences are grave," said Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, in emailed comments.
"There is some chatter on a collective central-bank meeting to make a market statement on the best way to deal with this crisis," he added.
Topping the Stoxx 600 decliner list, shares of Bankia tumbled 14%.
A local newspaper said customers were urgently withdrawing deposits after the recent nationalization of the bank, but Spanish Deputy Finance Minister Fernando Jimenez Latorre denied the report, according to media reports. Bankia itself said in a statement that it expects no big changes in deposit levels.
Read Full Article from Wall Street Journal
- Posted: 2012-05-17 12:17:37
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